Alfa (classic) Spider, prices & buying tips

[LaurasOtherHalf]

I've asked in the classic cars section but wondered if there were any owners on here to give me any pointers?

[coetzeeh]

I don't own a Spider but do own two 105 series coupes from the 60's.

The cheapest route imho is to buy the best car you can afford - and I mean best body ie restored by one of the well known companies. Mechanicals are easy to fix and parts readily available.

To restore a poor car properly will be very expensive.

[arguti]

I would buy a guide to start off with.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Giulia-Spider-Essential-Bu...

I would then speak to Alfaholics, Classic Alfa and Ian Ellis Alfas and ask them if they know of any good cars that are potentially available for sale.

This is important because they will know the "good" cars ie ones restored properly as identified in previous post, but also will know of cars that might be for sale but are not actually advertised.

Finding the right car can be quite an exercise otherwise.

Bodywork/rust is all important but the quality of any previous repairs can be variable which is why it is worth taking advice from the usual suspects above who do this for a living.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

To be honest I'm more thinking along the lines of a series 3/4 car, more likely a 4.

[sunbeam alpine]

This is my S4 which I bought 5 or 6 years ago. I looked at several before buying this one, and it's a lot of car for the money.

As coetzeeh says, but the best you can get - mechanicals are easily available, but bodywork, especially the sills, can be costly to repair properly.

Some parts (especially body panels)are getting harder to get from Alfa Romeo themselves (according to a good friend who works for AR). I've got a wrecked one stored just in case!

I believe the S4 (and maybe also the S3) don't suffer so badly from rust as earlier models (maybe the paint/treatment was better).

Driving mine puts a smile on my face after even the sttiest day

[arguti]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

To be honest I'm more thinking along the lines of a series 3/4 car, more likely a 4.

I would still buy the guide and speak to the same people as apart from external bodywork changes, dash instruments and fuel injection, they are essentially the same car, certainly in terms of where they rust, etc. Alfaholics and the others mentioned are still the go to people for the later spiders.

The S3 is not well loved as such and whilst cheaper, will be more difficult to move if and when you decide to sell. Out of the two mentioned, I would definitely go for a S4.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Thanks for the heads up chaps, the S4 is probably more the one I would go for.

The intention is to purchase for our honeymoon alpine tour this summer, so the main point is I must buy a strong reliable example that isn't going to leave us stuck on a hard shoulder miles from anywhere!

I'll have a look into that buying guide & start ringing around the specialists mentioned

[arguti]

Alex Jupe tends to work on most of my cars As historically I have always had a Alfetta of one sort or another and whenever major work or re- commissioning is completed I always ask him to use the car himself for a few days as the gremlins have a habit of appearing about an hour or two after you have left the workshop!

If you are doing a long trip ensure you speak to the experts as to what spares to carry with you - there were some good threads on the AROC forum covering same - Alfaholics also fitted up to date temp and oil pressure gauges on my 105 coupe a while back as the factory instruments were inaccurate - the S4 should be ok in at respect.Certainly I would upgrade all coolant hoses to silicone ones and don't forget the hoses to the heater box - one of those started pissing water a few weeks ago and lucky I was able to bypass the heater box altogether at the time.